1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to musical instruments, specifically to a magnetic guitar pick.
2. Description of the Related Art
A guitar pick is a type of plectrum designed for use on a guitar. Over time people have made picks of various materials, including plastic, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone. They most often take the shape of an acute isosceles triangle with the two equal corners very rounded and the third corner rounded to a lesser extent. This shape is, however, merely one of many used by manufacturers.
Pick shapes started with guitarists filing down bone, shell, wood, cuttlebone, metal, amber, stone or ivory to get the desired shape. Most users of picks are familiar with the most popular shape, the 351, which is merely the rounding off of the top of heart, which was a popular pick shape early on. The rounded triangle is the 346 and the small jazz pick, the 358.
Guitar picks vary in thickness to accommodate different playing styles and kinds of strings. Thinner plectra are more flexible and tend to offer a wider range of sounds, from soft to loud, and produce a “click” that emphasizes the attack of the picking. However, some argue that heavier picks produce a brighter tone. Picks are usually gripped with two fingers—thumb and index—and are played with pointed end facing the strings. However, it's a matter of personal preference and many notable musicians use different grips.
The motion of the pick against the string is also a personal choice. George Benson and Dave Mustaine, for example, hold the pick very stiffly between the thumb and index finger, locking the thumb joint and striking with the surface of the pick nearly parallel to the string, for a very positive, articulate, consistent tone. Other guitarists have developed a technique known as circle picking, where the thumb joint is bent on the downstroke, and straightened on the upstroke, causing the tip of the pick to move in a circular pattern. Circle picking can allow greater speed and fluidity. The angle of the pick against the string is also very personal and has a broad range of effects on tone and articulation. Many rock guitarists will use a flourish (called a pick slide or pick scrape) that involves scraping the pick along the length of a round wound string (a round wound string is a string with a coil of round wire wrapped around the outside, used for the heaviest three or four strings on a guitar).
Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below, and the supported teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:
The following references are presented for their supported teachings herein: U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,892, issued to Jepsen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,708, issued to Vaughan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,641, issued to Duhart; U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,062, issued to Vars; U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,006, issued to Olson; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,814 issued to Rowley.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being limited in application, being limited in adaptability, being expensive, being non-durable, being flimsy, being heavy, and being difficult to use.
What is needed is a magnetic guitar pick that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.